Mixing Light and Shadow: Rewritten
by colbet11
Summary: A rewrite of Mixing Light and Shadow. When Midna breaks the Mirror of Twilight, Link is left heartbroken. Midna hasn't left him to fate however, as a letter she left in Zelda's possession instills new hope in our hero.
1. Chapter 1

**I know this is a bit short, I just wanted to publish the intro as a chapter by itself, future chapters will be longer, I promise.**

Intro

Zelda looked over at Link, his normally calm and collected face was covered with a myriad of emotions, switching intermittently between, grief, sadness, anger and disbelief. A lone tear wove a crooked path down his cheeks as he watched the glittering particles floating in the air; all that was left of the mirror. Zelda opened her mouth to say something, but decided to wait a little longer, observing the hero as he struggled to regain his composure. Looking down, Link stooped, picking something off the ground and examining it. Leaning forward in an attempt to see past him, Zelda tried to ascertain what it was he was looking at. Her eyes widened slightly, it was a single mirror shard, the only solid proof the mirror had even existed. She watched him close his fist around the small object before placing it into his seemingly bottomless pouch. As he stood, Zelda at last broke the silence.

"Link… Look at me." Link turned to face her with a mask of indifference forming on his face in an effort to conceal his emotions, but they still raged in his eyes, a part of her died looking at him, knowing he was trying his best to keep his face straight, a pool of unshed tears glistening on his eyelids.

"I think Midna was doing what she thought was the right thing." His eyes pierced into her soul as he dared her to continue speaking. Without a word, he turned and began to walk towards the exit.

"Goodbye, Zelda." Zelda's eyes fell, a wave of emotion pressuring her to let him be, but not before...

"She gave me a letter for you, Link..." Link froze, "She discussed this with me the night of the celebration". Link slowly turned to Zelda, his mask twitching slightly, controlled rage burning unconcealed in his eyes until he once again turned to the exit and left her to her own deafening silence. Zelda sighed and looked up at the starry sky, wondering why it had to come to this.

* * *

_Zelda walked slowly out the castle doors, squinting slightly as she adjusted to the bright lights stationed outside. The courtyard was filled with tents, lights and people. She watched as a little girl rode on her father's shoulders, steering him in the direction she wanted by pulling on his ears. A gentle smile spread across her face as a lady came up to the pair, handing a teddy bear up to the small girl, the smile widening as the girl squealed with delight and squeezed the small toy. She turned as Link came up beside her, a broad smile adorning his face, his eyes twinkling as he came up to her. Link paused beside her, taking in her attire, she was dressed in a flowing white gown that dragged slightly on the floor with an overly frilly end giving it the effect that it seemed to be rippling. The dress' sleeves cut off just past her shoulders, very little of her arms were showing however, as gloves ran past her elbow. Her hair was done in her usual style with two tails on either side of her face with the rest of it flowing down over her back. All-in-all, he had to admit, she was stunning. Her smile widened slightly when she saw him, but fell equally as slightly as Midna came up behind him. Personally, she held no ill will against Midna, but recognised her as a threat to her pursuing Link._

_Link turned towards Midna, she wore a replica of Zelda's dress but in black with blue lines instead of white, there was also no triforce sign. Her hair was left unrestrained to flow down her back, with a small flower, given to her by Link, tucked neatly above her right ear, although Link had admitted Zelda was stunning, there would still never be a comparison in his heart, to Midna. If possible, Link's smile grew even wider as he looked over Midna, who smiled equally as widely at him, before all three of them turned towards the crowd, and descended the steps to make their way to the banquet table._

* * *

_"Zelda..." Zelda looke over at Midna, her eyelids drooping slightly as they made their way through the castle, having bade Link goodnight at his door. "I wanted to talk to you..." Zelda's eyes scanned Midna's face, her eyebrows were furrowed, her mouth slightly down turned and her eyes dully showing sadness, a complete turnaround from her expression a few minutes ago. Holding up a hand to signal Midna to wait, she led her through the corridors to her private chambers, leading her to the bed and beckoning her to sit. Midna sat, staring at the floor, unsure of how to go about explaining this to her friend._

_"I'm leaving, Zelda..." Zelda looked confused for a moment_

_"But you said you wanted to talk about something..."_

_"That's not what I mean... I mean that i'm leaving Hyrule... for good." she let the words hang in the air for a few moments. "I'm going to destroy the Mirror of Twilight." There are several things Zelda would have never thought she would have done in her life, but at this very moment, she was gaping at Midna _

_"WHAT?!" Midna looked up at Zelda, a deep sadness in her eyes, opening her mouth as she began to explain._

* * *

Bringing herself back to the present, Zelda sighed, looking back at the exit, as if hoping Link would walk back through the archway, fully knowing he wouldn't. Taking a deep breath, she followed in his footsteps and left the place as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

_"Link... Hurry..." Link's ears drew back even further as he moved as quickly as he dared across the fields, trying his best to avoid enemies. Stopping for a moment, he took a quick glance at the figure slumped over his back, her normally dark skin, intricately decorated by lines of then unknown purpose, was now a pallid white colour, dotted with blots of deep blue. Her normally sneering or taunting expression was replaced by a look of total helplessness. Despite her attitude towards him, it still burned his heart to see the little imp in such a state. Link whimpered until her uncovered eye opened. She held his gaze for a few moments, in that moment Link knew; She was not in the least convinced that she would survive: she had given up. A knife twisted in his chest as she looked down and slowly closed her eye again, as if in resignation. Narrowing his eyes as a vision of Zant flashed before his eyes, Link began to move once more, a new fire in his bones._

* * *

Link drew himself out of his memories, what good were they now anyway? He lay on the grass by the pond in Ordon, listening to the sound of the children playing not too far away, the sound of the birds flying above, reveling in the soft caress of the light wind on his face... That is, until...

"LINK!" a voice yelled in his ear. Before the recent events, he would have jumped at the sudden intrusion to his peace, but now, he merely opened his eyes halfway, meeting a pair of large green orbs above him.

"What do you want, Ilia?" Ilia pouted, a sight that would before cause his heart to leap when he had a crush on her, but now, it was merely an annoyance to him, this intruder impeding his peaceful brooding.

"Well now how's that a greeting for your best friend?" Link merely stared at her. She had noticed that since he had come back, two days ago, he went about his duties, cleaning his house after so long being away from it, tending to the farm, and helping around, but it seemed as though the sun had disappeared in his world, he had not smiled since returning, had not laughed and his eyes seemed hollow. She knew that something had happened but he had said nothing when she had asked about it. And now, he seemed to be brooding about something by the pond, a frown forming a crease between his eyebrows the had only deepened with every minute she had watched him. Sighing, she straightened, a forlorn look across her face.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" she asked. A shadow flitted across Link's face before he got up and left without a word. Ilia watched him go, a frown on her face that was so deep, it threatened to permanently glue her eyebrows together. Hearing footsteps, she turned to see her father, the mayor walking towards her, a saddened expression covering his features. He stopped beside her and watched Link's back disappear down the path to his house.

"He went on a very long journey, Ilia... He was bound to have seen and experienced things that would change him, even his strong heart cannot withstand the repercussions many battles can imprint." Somewhat understanding, Ilia looked down, tears slowly forming and dripping to the ground as she felt a wave of emotion for her best friend. Her father placed his hand gently on her back and turned her, pulling her slowly home.

* * *

Link paused at the foot of the ladder, as though contemplating something. He turned to look at Epona, tied to a post beside his house. He considered taking her for a ride across Hyrule field, but decided against it. He wasn't feeling very energetic today, not that he had for the past couple days. He climbed the ladder, and headed straight for his bed. He kicked off his boots and lay there, with one arm over his face. He knew that he wanted to go and get the letter from Zelda, he felt an invisible force constantly tugging at him to go, but he refused to go to see her... Not yet at least. He would get answers, that he assured himself, he would get answers from Zelda, and hopefully the letter she supposedly held for him from... _Her. _Just thinking about her constricted his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. But he still couldn't help but smile as he thought of their adventures, despite his heart constricting to extremely painful points. He thought of running across Hyrule field, feeling her small figure grip his fur tighter in her nap as he ran across the grass. His smile widened and a small tear broke free of the pool forming and became the first of many that night to wet his pillow before he finally drifted into an inconsistent rest.

* * *

Zelda stared out of her window, looking at the night sky. Her hand had been itching all day since Link had returned to Ordon, and she was catching a few glimpses of his mood. Now, a wave of nostalgia hit her and she smiled slightly, at least he wasn't locking away his memories rather than embrace them. Sighing, she turned to another mountain of papers with drawings and notes on the renovation of the various parts of Hyrule damaged by Zant and his cronies. She knew it was going to be another sleepless night.

* * *

Link stirred, light shining on his face. He grumbled and pulled his pillow over his face, wondering why he woke up.

"LIIIIIIIIIIINK!" He opened one eye. Ilia. Of course. "Come on! You're gonna be late for work!" Grumbling so himself, he fell out of bed and began dressing, ignoring Ilia's continued shouting. He slid down to his living area, quickly eating a small bit of bread and opened the door. Immediately blinded, he threw out an arm to block the sunlight as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

"About time!" Link looked at Ilia, in her signature pose with her hands on her hips. Climbing down the ladder, Link allowed her a brief smile before heading off to the ranch.

"Is that it?" Link sighed as Ilia came up beside him. "No hug or anything? No 'leave me alone, I was sleeping...'?" Link looked at her, studying her face before enveloping her in a swift hug and released her as quickly as possible.

"Better?" He asked. Ilia sighed

"A bit, but not much" She looked him in the eye for a few seconds before he looked away, frustrated, she opened her mouth again

"Lin-"

"LOOK OUT! RUNAWAY GOAT!" Link spun and ran the rest of the way into the village just as the goat ran out of the farm. Planting his feet, Link waited for the goat as it sped towards him. Just before it collided with him, Link grabbed the goat's horns and pushed his entire weight against it. '_Just like old times_' Link thought. He slid back several feet, but stopped the goat nonetheless. Gritting his teeth, he let out a yell as he threw the goat to the side, putting it out of action just long enough for Fado to come and use a rope to pull him back to the farm

"Thanks a bunch Link!" Fado seemed extremely grateful

"No problem" Ilia had arrived and was watching Link's face, she noticed that there wasn't his usual smile or jibe at Fado's clumsiness, it was just indifference. His expression suddenly changed though, to one of confusion, he raised his left hand and studied it before gripping it with his right hand. Ilia hurried to his side as he hunched over in apparent pain. She put her hand on his back, about to ask him if he was okay but he suddenly bolted back to his tree house, leaving her in confusion as to what had just happened.

* * *

"No problem" Link couldn't even find it in himself to tease Fado on his clumsiness, he just watched him take the goat back to the farm. A curious sensation covered his left hand, he lifted it, inspecting the glowing triforce there, the courage emblem glowing brighter than the others, marking his possession of it. Suddenly, the mark began to burn. Link hunched over, gripping his hand, it felt as though he had pushed his hand into the smelting fires again (Not one of his fondest memories). He felt a hand on his back but shrugged it off, running as quickly as he could back to his tree house, as soon as he closed the door he feel to the floor, devoid of all feeling as he drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

Zelda signed her name on yet another construction contract. She yawned and looked over at her bed, mere feet away from her desk, she longed to lie in it... Maybe just for a few minutes... As she got up, her left hand started tingling, and just as suddenly, started burning with a ferocity she had never experienced. Letting out a yelp, she grabbed her hand as her triforce glowed, it's wisdom segment glowing brighter than the others. She fell to her knees, and then the floor as she drifted into unconsciousness.


End file.
